Where

DIRECTIONS: Take I-88 to Route 59, go North on Route 59 and turn right at first street (Westings Drive). From Westings, take an immediate right onto Calamos Court. Parking garage is on right. Go to CityGate Grille. Meeting room is down the steps below CityGate Grille.

Event Details

The February national economic leadership transition to Chairman Janet Yellen has been described by Fed watchers as smooth with her early initiatives fairly well matched to expectations. Tapering of the financial crisis induced policy of quantitative easing continues and references to a specific unemployment rate target have been eliminated, the latter explicitness considered a shortcoming of the Bernanke era.

Yet as the perennial byword about much coming out of Washington, DC, "what have you done for me lately?" applies to pending macroeconomic choices. To set the stage for interpreting present conditions and projecting the future course of factors such as interest rates, inflation, and business investment so important to our financial decisions, we will be guided by a senior business economist at the Chicago Fed who closely tracks regional developments in the Midwest. As a member of our July audience, you will ideally come away with useful insights on topics like:

•Timing/extent of a future rise of short term rates•Financial system oversight and effects on bank lending•Policy incentives for business formation and innovation•Outlook for various economic sectors

Scott major responsibilities include the Chicago Fed's contribution to the Beige Book that guides the Fed's Board of Governors in their policy making. He also produces public releases on the Chicago Fed's National Activity, Midwest Economy and Financial Conditions Indexes. His professional research has addressed topics such as employment and economic growth trend analysis and modeling for economic forecasts and financial instability. He earned both his bachelor's degree in economics and his MBA in economics, statistics and finance from the University of Chicago.

Continuing our quarterly cycle of providing the latest financial market forecasts from top strategists, we also have scheduled a return visit by that most accomplished founder of our venue. John Calamos of Calamos Investments is slated to provide his firm's latest quarterly market update to kick off our program. You will thus get the views of some of the most insightful financial analysts in the Chicago area expressed within their Calamos Quarterly Outlook publication to compare and contrast the expectations of forecasters from the public and private sectors about business prospects for the rest of 2014 and beyond.

Cost

Booth, Kellogg School of Mgmt, students and alumni and Entrepreneurial Roundtable members - $15 until 7/16, then $5 more.